This post is not created with the intention of alarming or making people obsess over details and defects. On the contrary, it is intended to help, inform, and, if possible, provide tutorials and tools for people who have the misfortune of being affected to find useful solutions for their Steam Deck OLED and avoid an RMA, which is like playing Russian roulette.

I’ve had many Steam Decks with LCD for defects in RMA, and I’ve had to fix most of them, something Valve did not do. I’ll try to contribute a bit here to avoid RMA, which is “a headache.” If anyone finds more issues and their solutions, please let me know, and we’ll add them to the list:

Dead Pixels on Steam Deck OLED: Many cases have been reported on Reddit and Resetera in the last hours and days of people with “Limited Edition” Steam Decks with dead pixels. This is because the “BOE” panel, which seems exclusive to the LE model, has a higher predisposition to this defect. I haven’t seen reported cases in the normal editions yet. To check for dead pixels, you can use this test on your Steam Deck from a browser: Link to the test.

Solution: Send for RMA or accept it and adapt.

Sticks sticking or making a clicky noise when moving: Some users have uploaded videos reporting that one of their sticks makes a rubbing or clicking noise that the other one doesn’t. Possible solution: Disassemble the deck, remove the sticks from the motherboard, take out the mushroom on top, and reposition it. That usually fixes it. Sometimes, the rubbing comes from the touchscreen cable; move it slightly inside the stick to prevent it from rubbing against the motherboard. If that doesn’t work, apply vaseline around the pole where the mushroom fits (as a side effect, this will make the stick movement smoother and less stiff; consider this before doing it). Secondary solution: Send for RMA.

One or both triggers sticking or rubbing when moving, or one of them moves smoothly and the other rubs: The solution is to remove the deck’s casing and sand with fine sandpaper the area of the casing that rubs against the trigger. Another possible issue is that the trigger makes a spring sound; it is resolved by disassembling the trigger with iFixit’s tutorial and reinserting the spring. If that doesn’t fix it, lubricate the spring with water or vaseline and then clean it. Secondary solution: Send for RMA.

A, B, Y, X buttons dancing or making maraca or rattling sound: Sometimes, even without shaking the deck, just having a finger on them causes them to dance a lot or make a maraca or vibration sound. This defect has been reported in some OLEDs and did not exist in the LCD deck. If you have this problem, I recommend RMA if it bothers you. Currently, I do not know if it is a design decision and exists in all units or is a real defect. We need reports from users in greater quantity.

Button B sticking: This problem has been reported in some units of Steam decks OLEDs, and the same happened with the LCD in the first units sold. It was fixed in the following batches. If your deck suffers from this, it is NOT normal, and it IS considered a defect, and there is no guarantee that it will disappear with use. One solution is to sand the internal part of the button that has excess burrs and rubs against the casing, causing it to stick. The other is RMA. I only recommend the particular solution in this case to advanced users or those with experience tinkering.

My D-pad is too hard to press, making excessive noise, or the bottom left press of the D-pad collides with a piece, making an annoying noise that doesn’t exist in the rest of the D-pad: I have seen this reported on some Steam Deck OLEDs; it happened to me on my last Steam Deck LCD. If you don’t want to send it for RMA, a homemade solution or mitigation of the problem is to apply some vaseline with a paper and slide it along the edges of the D-pad. Also, along the inner edges of the D-pad with a toothpick; this will reduce the bad press, and it will be less hard and noisy, although I do not consider it a 100% solution.

One of my trackpads or both have very weak haptic feedback, or they make a faulty noise rubbing against the casing, or they create a non-existent click effect, or my Steam Deck, in general, has weak overall haptic feedback: I group all these possible defects into one section because they all have the same solution. This is to use iFixit’s tutorial to disassemble both trackpads and reassemble them and screw them back in. When screwing them back in, always reach the maximum by tightening the screws with a flat-head screwdriver but without overdoing it and damaging them; simply reach the maximum tightness. Tightening more will make the vibration stronger, and loosening it will make it weaker. (I recommend that if there is any screw with glue residue making it screw incorrectly, clean it with lubricant and vaseline and then dry it; this improves the fit of the parts.)

I do not recommend sending for RMA: You may be lucky that Valve sends you one with the haptic feedback fixed or the trackpads, or they may come the same, worse, or with another problem your deck did not have before. Only do it if you are afraid to open it, and you cannot tolerate the problem.

The post will be updated with new information or collected possible defects… to be continued…